A New Year's Tradition
by ShowMeStars
Summary: Written for Sweet Jamie Lee's 'It's A Lockhart Gardner Tradition 2012 Summer Ficathon' on LiveJournal with the prompt 'Alicia/Will, A New Year's Tradition'. They could blame it on alcohol and a New Year's Tradition but the truth was they missed each other. A lot. Alicia/Will pairing. Complete.


1.

"10, 9, 8, 7, 6..." Voices united count down to the arrival of a new year. A new year brings new changes and new chances. New opportunities to fail or succeed. A new year, is a chance for renewal.

In a quiet corner of the offices of Lockhart Gardner are two people who are welcoming the new year and its promise of new chances. Standing side by side, close enough to touch.

"5..." Alicia smiles and picks up her flute of champagne from the desk.

Will takes the flute from her hand and shakes his head. Not yet. "4..." He murmurs.

"3..." Alicia turns to Will, preparing to take back her champagne glass she can toast the new year with him. Purely platonic but the look he is giving her is anything but platonic. Will puts down the champagne flutes, his and hers, and takes a step towards her.

"2..." Will whispers. Alicia watches as the number is pronounced, the curve of his lips, and looks into his deep brown eyes. A question in them. A question that demands to be answered.

"1..." The final digit a whisper on Alicia's lips. So silent, it's almost nothing. She can't concentrate any more. All she can think of is Will advancing ever closer, slowly, painfully slow, towards her. He puts two gentle hands on either side of her waist. She looks at his hands on her and sighs. It's been so long. She looks back at him and for a second, remembers.

2.

"Happy New Year!" The crowd screamed. The crack of fireworks mingle with the sounds of yells, party poppers, champagne bottles opening and out of tune chorus' of 'Auld Lang Syne.'

"Happy New Year, Cavanaugh." Will Gardner says as he offers Alicia Cavanaugh, soon to be Florrick, a beer.

"Happy New Year Will." Alicia smiles before rolling her eyes. "You don't need to call me Cavanaugh. Just Alicia is fine."

"Fine. Happy New Year. Just Alicia." Will's young face breaks out into that boyish grin that most of the girls at Georgetown Law would do anything to be on the receiving end of. Funny coincidence is that the one that receives it the most, Alicia Cavanaugh, isn't in love with Will Gardner. Apparently.

"Will, can you believe it's our last year of law school?"

"Actually I can." Will says with a smirk.

"Oh come on." Alicia punched Will's shoulder playfully. "You know what I mean. This time next year, there will be no more studying..."

"Thank God." Will says with a laugh.

"No more last night cramming sessions, no more mock trials, no more essays..."

"Oh." Will groans in feign disappointment. "I am really going to miss all of those things."

Alicia rolls her eyes. "Seriously Will, this time next year, this will all be gone, we will all be gone. To different places with different people."

Will nods in grim agreement. They stand in a thoughtful silence for a few seconds.

"It's bittersweet." Alicia says finally.

"It is." Will agreed.

Alicia nodded, "I'll miss you." She says quietly.

"I'll miss you too." Will says, just as quietly.

Will steps closer to Alicia and places one hand on her cheek.

Alicia looks up at him with a question in her eyes. Will answers it by putting his lips against hers and kissing her.

This kiss is different. Alicia thinks. Not like with Peter, who dominates the kiss, strong, passionate and leaving her breathless. When Will kisses her, he's...gentle. Not bad. Just different from Peter. Peter, her fiancé...

"Mmm!" Alicia shakes her head and Will stops. Takes a step back, with a resigned look in his eyes. "I..we can't. I'm sorry." Alicia looks around, takes a half step away from Will.

"Alicia." Will takes her wrist. "Let's just pretend it never happened, okay?"

Alicia stares into Will's dark brown eyes. "Okay."

3.

Will is there, in the present day, staring at her and Alicia stares back. The silence seems to hover in the air for an age as they look at each other, Will's hands on Alicia's waist. Each one waiting for the other to move. The crowd cries 'Happy New Year!" It's only been a few seconds.

Will puts one hand on her cheek. "Alicia?" He asks softly.

"Happy New Year Will." She whispers.

"Happy New Year Alicia." Will whispers back. He steps forward and leans his head towards Alicia's. He stops when there is only half an inch distance between their lips and looks at Alicia.

Alicia moves that little distance and presses her lips against his.

Will's reaction is immediate. He pushes her closer towards him, using the hand on her waist, the other hand slides from her cheek around to the back of her neck. Other kisses between them were exploratory, this one was like remembering. It felt like Will was trying to remember how it felt to kiss her. Even though Alicia wouldn't call herself a romantic, well not anymore but somehow, it felt like she and Will were in their own little bubble, nothing seemed to matter but what was happening at that very moment. Will holding her hips, pushing her against him so tight and it is just like old times. Before Grace had gone missing and suddenly this, them, took a back seat to Alicia's family. This, what they were doing now was a stolen moment of nostalgia and longing. They were stuck in that bubble that blocked every little problem they faced. But that 'bubble' had to pop sometime. Reality, or the illusion of it, had to come back and remind them that this was still wrong.

"Great, I'll tell Will. I think he's..." The door opens and in to the darkened room, and Alicia and Will are bathed in the light from the corridor.

"Oh, hold on David, I seem to have interrupted something." Diane says with a unmissable edge of disapproval. She presses the end call button on her phone and puts it in her pocket.

Will slackens his grip from Alicia's hips and drops his hands to by his side. Alicia brings her arms down and faces Diane.

"I'm sorry Diane. That was..."

"An accident?" Diane asks. "I wouldn't call it that."

"No, of course not." Alicia shakes her head. "Just blame it on...a New Year's tradition." Alicia sees Will smile quickly from the corner of her eyes. He remembers too, that kiss at Georgetown.

"And too much alcohol it seems." Diane adds, presuming they are at least, partly drunk. That would be a good excuse, but their champagne glasses remain full. Alicia does know that a bit of alcohol makes her daring. She's gone over the trip to the Presidential Suite in her mind over and over and had come to the conclusion that she probably wouldn't have taken the chance, and the $7800 hotel suite, with Will if she had not drunk the tequila. Yet she had barely drank anything tonight, which gave her the clue that an excuse of being drunk, would not hold up very well in a court. Obviously she wanted to kiss Will and that could be the start of a big problem.

"Will, I have something to tell you." Diane said the calm business tone Alicia had come to know.

Alicia nods. Diane doesn't say anything to her, but her unspoken message is clear. It's Alicia's cue to leave.

An hour later Will calls Alicia. She is at home, sitting on the couch and watching the New Year's eve festivities on the television.

"Alicia about that kiss..."

"Will, I'm sorry. I..." Alicia sighed, "I...enjoyed it, I won't lie to you but things haven't changed. I'm still married to Peter, I still have two children and you are still my boss."

Alicia hears Will's resigned sigh on the phone. "Ok Alicia, so we're just going to blame that on too much alcohol and a New Year's tradition?"

"I don't know. I guess so."

Silence on the other line.

"Do you ever...no. Forget it." Will says after a while.

"What?" Alicia asks. "Just tell me Will."

"Do you ever think we have a chance?" Will says in a rush. "I mean will we ever be able to have a real relationship?"

Alicia sucks in a breath.

"Look, just forget it." Will says. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be putting this all on you...not tonight."

"Will..." Alicia sighs again. "If this is to work out, you need to be able to be there for the kids."

Will exhales. "I think I could do that."

"I know, I think you could, if you worked on it." Alicia says and Will mumbles something like "thanks."

"I need to work on believing. That this won't come crashing down, for my children and myself."

"It doesn't have to be this way." Will is almost pleading now.

"I know Will. But at this time, it is this way and I am truly sorry about that." Alicia sighs sleepily.

It has been a long night. "Goodnight Will."

"Goodnight Alicia."

Alicia is about to end the call when Will starts to speak again.

"Maybe next year we can try to keep the tradition...and maybe next year you'll be ready to blame it on something else..." He says quietly. The 'something else' is obvious. Love.

"Maybe." Alicia replies softly. "Goodbye Will."

"Bye Cavanaugh." Will adds and ends the call.

Alicia puts down the phone with a bittersweet smile. Cavanaugh. She hasn't heard that name attached to herself in a long time. Maybe next year, as Will said, things (and maybe her name too) will be different. In the meantime she can work on believing in them.


End file.
